I wonder what this man would have said if you told him that 26 years after he released this song, that the actual Northwest Passage would have opened. Shame he never got to see it.
The backup singer is Stan's brother Garnet, I think. I'm a northern American who's lived in the south for many years, and Rogers' music keeps me from going bonkers sometimes. So powerful.
Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage And make a Northwest Passage to the sea Westward from the Davis Strait 'tis there 'twas said to lie The sea route to the Orient for which so many died Seeking gold and glory, leaving weathered, broken bones And a long-forgotten lonely cairn of stones Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage And make a Northwest Passage to the sea Three centuries thereafter, I take passage overland In the footsteps of brave Kelsey, where his Sea of Flowers began Watching cities rise before me, then behind me sink again This tardiest explorer, driving hard across the plain Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage And make a Northwest Passage to the sea And through the night, behind the wheel, the mileage clicking west I think upon Mackenzie, David Thompson and the rest Who cracked the mountain ramparts and did show a path for me To race the roaring Fraser to the sea Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage And make a Northwest Passage to the sea How then am I so different from the first men through this way? Like them, I left a settled life, I threw it all away To seek a Northwest Passage at the call of many men To find there but the road back home again Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage And make a Northwest Passage to the sea
THE FRANKLIN EXPEDITION WAS DOOMED. LACK OF PLANNING, PROPER CLOTHING & FOOD, LED THEM TO A CRUSHED - BY- ICE - SHIP,AND THE MEN WALKED AND WALKED IN DELERIUM, AND STARVED, EACH ONE IN HIS OWN WAY----A HARSH WORLD THEY WERE IN, AND THEY UNDERESTIMATED THE COLD, AND WERE NOT PREPARED.
I was 36 years old when I first heard my national anthem. Much ink has been spilled over Canadian national identity, and now I discover that Stan Rogers figured it out over 40 years ago.
Listening while awaiting feedback on a college application in Alaska, where I'll be a marine biology student, and of course, a sailor. Never thought this would ever be somewhat relatable lol
My grandfather used to play this for me when I was young, and it was honestly more emotion than I knew what to do with. Recently, I had the Unleash the Archers cover of it come on my Pandora, and a whole flood of memories came back to me. Had to come find the original again. Still as hauntingly beautiful as I remember it being.
Damn, i can take a 10' metal panel to the shoulder without flinching, but this song just breaks me. RIP to all the real men who explored and faced unknown fears in the name of progress for humankind.
True. But theres still plenty of anything out there to explore, and plenty of opportunity to make history if you are so inclined. It’s certainly not what you might imagine or picture, but if you open your mind, you’ll find that opportunity!
Here after watching re-runs of Due South on RU-vid, where this brilliant, emotive song was featured. How brave those men were, forging through unknown, inhospitable territory in search of a dream.
It's in the form of a call and response that sailors would sing when doing a task together such as hauling up a large sail. It gives the song a real nautical feeling which goes so well with the story. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-57gYUNh9cVQ.html
40 years since Stan died. My brother-in-law and a group of singers paid tribute to him last night at a bar in New Brunswick, Canada. I'd forgotten some of the beautiful songs he wrote which my brother-in-law sang beautifully. RIP Stan Rogers.
I remember this was used in a documentary about the Franklin expedition, later shown on BBC2 in the Wide World series (1989). Evocatively used, but didn't mention Stan Rogers' name